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DETROIT - (KRT) -
Ibrahim Parlak was called a "complete terrorist
package" who repeatedly omitted key information
about his past on immigration applications, a
government attorney said Tuesday during a blistering
closing argument in a deportation hearing at a U.S.
Immigration Court.
Parlak, 42, a Turkish Kurd whose bid to remain in
the United States has attracted wide support in his
adopted hometown of Harbert, Mich., sat stoically as
government attorney Mark Jebson declared, "We're not
trying to deport him on what he said but on what he
did not say."
Parlak served 17 months of a four-year, two-month
sentence in Turkey for his role in a 1988 firefight
at the Turkish-Syrian border that left two Turkish
soldiers dead. After his release, he arrived in the
United States in 1991 and applied for asylum a year
later.
Parlak was jailed in July for allegedly providing
false answers on his green card application. The
government judged Parlak deportable as an aggravated
felon after he was re-sentenced by a Turkish court
for the border incident. Three terrorism-related
charges were added by the U.S. government in
mid-October. All the charges are administrative, and
the hearing was to determine if Parlak should be
deported.
Elizabeth Hacker, the immigration judge, said she
would provide a written opinion in several weeks.
"We've always known this is a very difficult
challenge for Ibrahim," said one of Parlak's
attorneys, Noel Saleh. "There are a plethora of
issues. This was not the type of case where we could
have a yes or no. There are too many shades, some
tactical, some legal."
Jebson told the court that "Parlak has not been
truthful since the day he stepped through our front
door" with a forged passport. He claimed that on
numerous government documents Parlak failed to
disclose his arrest record and political ties to a
political wing of the PKK, the Kurdish Workers
Party.
Jebson said Parlak used a code name while in Europe,
raised money that he knew was funneled to the PKK,
met with the group's leader, entered Turkey with
arms, buried weapons and built shelters in the
mountains.
"Mr. Parlak is not a freedom fighter; he engaged in
terrorism," Jebson said.
Earlier, Parlak testified in a closed session to
review his claims that he was tortured while in
Turkish custody. His attorneys have sought to block
his deportation to Turkey under the United Nations'
Convention Against Torture, which was ratified by
the United States.
Parlak said if he was deported to Turkey his safety
would be endangered from the government and
"right-wing groups."
"I don't have anything in Turkey," Parlak said.
"Everything I have is here."
Parlak also detailed his experiences growing up a
Kurd in Turkey, where he said a teacher caned him
for speaking Kurdish at home. He said he was
detained for several days by police after a student
protest and was later threatened after arguing with
a history teacher.
"I was surrounded by others. Beaten up. Threatened
to be thrown off the fourth floor (of a school)," he
said.
He said police watched the incident.
© 2004, Chicago Tribune.
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